All or Nothing
by Easternchill
Summary: Orange is the new Black in The Last of Us world/premise. That's it really, I'm bad at this. Give it a shot?
1. Chapter 1 prologue

_Disclaimer: I don't own shit._

 **All or Nothing**

 _ **Prologue**_

 _May 11, 2013_

 _Piper_

 _"Alex?" I wake up with a strange grogginess I can't seem to shake, trying to pull me back into the black unconscious but only reaching half way as I can't seem to see past the blur of my peripherals like I'm about to faint, the feel of a bumpy discomfort from a moving vehicle the only thing keeping me awake, "What the fuck happened?"_

 _"Hey, you're awake," the familiar raspy voice of my partner Alex Vause sounds hoarse and distant from my foggy brain as I try to register her words, "don't try to get up kid, the drugs won't wear off in a little while." She turns her head towards me, eyes away from the road to meet mine. She has a look I can't quite place, is that guilt you see on her face?_

 _Images of doctors, nurses, tubes and needles flash in my memory, and I mouthed a silent vaccine before the blackness starts to take over and my pupils become too heavy, my vision fades as the darkness ushers me to the unconscious._

* * *

 _January 21, 2003_

 _Alex_

Piper had been determined to leave after I asked her, again, to deliver drug money. Half the drawers were emptied as she packed all her belongings, ready to leave me in Paris and fly back to Connecticut. That was how it would have been if not for an unexpected call from my aunt, delivering the devastating news of my mom's passing.

My mom, Diane, she loved Piper and in, as if, a final act to keep us together, her death deters Piper decision and resolve to leave. Instead, Piper helps me book plane tickets to New Jersey where my mom lived in a two bedroom apartment I bought for her, while I transformed from pragmatic drug dealer to mental-emotional breakdown. And thank god that she did, because I was paralyzed for days from the sudden news. Mom did always say she was a keeper, told me not to fuck up.

We were on the first flight two days later after we'd finally finished all the packing, my eyes still red from last night as I cried myself to sleep, my head on Piper's shoulder blades and my arms around her middle, holding tight and refusing to let go.

Her eyes are red too, from lack of sleep or otherwise, she made no indication but she moved like a well oiled machine even as I could see from her face a sort of wary tired expression, keeping it together when I couldn't. Even while we were in the air she continued to keep active by writing a list of things we needed to do and calls we needed to make for the funeral. I didn't even want to think about it, so eventually falling asleep as Piper worked away.

I woke up then as we were landing with a head of Piper's blonde hair on my shoulder, tear marks on her cheeks and I realized it was time to wake up from my emotional stupor. Piper had been strong for both of us and wasn't given the time to process in favor of giving me the time to grieve. I know she loved her too.

The voice in the PA system told us it was time to go so I wake Piper from her deep sleep, she must have been tired to not have woken up from the PA. She realized we'd landed immediately and starts to get up to grab for our bags but I cut in, "Babe, I got it."

She smiled a little then, the first time for a while since I asked her to do a drug run. No, probably since I got too busy to notice.

I turned to retrieve our bags from the top shelf of the plane just above us and sighing silently, because, _Jesus I am such an asshole,_ I thought. What kind of person asks her girlfriend to deliver drug money? Then have to accompany her to her mom's funeral and still have the decency to smile at her?

"I can carry my bag Al," she replied, our bags slung over my shoulder.

"You carried my bag to the plane, I'll carry yours out," I said shrugging, "meet you halfway and everything."

She smiled again while saying, "How poetic, Ms. Vause." I'd almost forgotten how easy it was to be with Piper when we're not at each other's throats or otherwise screaming with it.

We got off the plane, headed for our luggage and hailed a cab to the hotel we'd booked the night before, it was cold out in the middle of winter as we walked in comfortable silence between us lessening my tension from the stress induced couple of days. We arrive at the hotel around 11am. The room was spacious with one queen sized bed in front of a TV, a bathroom with a shower and bathtub, and excellent heating and air conditioning. Not the most impressive place we've stayed in but good enough.

We left our luggage at one end of the room, our bags on the table by the flatscreen television. I told Piper we should have lunch after I made a call to my aunt to tell her we were at the hotel and schedule to meet the next day to arrange the funeral.

From behind me I could hear the hustled sounds of the television Piper had turned on, probably the news, as I talked to my aunt about meeting up the next day at my mom's place where my aunt had decided to stay while she was in New York.

"Hey Al, have you finished calling?"

"Yeah, should we get lunch? Anywhere particular you wanna eat Pipes?"

"Not really, can we just get room service?"

She must be tired, "Okay kiddo," I replied. I ordered Piper's favorites from the menu by the telephone.

"Al, come and listen to this," she told me, a small amount of panic flashes on her face. She turns up the volume on the news, the female reporters smooth voice becoming clearer.

 _An epidemic caused by a mutated Cordyceps fungus has hit the streets of New York, causing many people to suddenly become cannibalistic and aggressive. It reportedly started early last week, it is unclear as to where this infection specifically originates from or how it came to affect humans. However, it is known that the infection can spread from bites, and inhaling spores produced by others infected. Civilians are advised to stay at home._

A loud knock on the door jolts our attention away from the TV screen, a voice came from the otherside, "Room service!"

"Shit, I forgot about that," I said turning to the direction of the door, "just leave it out!"

I took the trolley inside, positioning it by the table. Piper got up to help me with the preparations for our lunch. We were silent for a while as we focused on putting all the food, drinks, plates and utensils. Then Piper speaks up, "New Jersey is pretty near us, I hope everything turns out okay."

"Mmm-hmm," I responded in acknowledgement but not putting any real thought into the news.

I pulled on one of the chairs and gestured for Piper to take a seat, "Lunch is served."

She looked both curious and a little skeptical to what I had done but she took the seat nonetheless.

Over lunch we talked about the things we needed to do the following days to arrange the funeral, like which flowers my mom liked best, if she would have wanted a fancy dress or something less grandiose. That trip down memory lane was both emotionally draining and relieving at the same time, it made me feel like shit yet somehow better.

We phoned some places over the afternoon, search over the internet how these things usually go, checking off things from Piper's list tried to get organized before the meeting with my aunt the next day.

I stopped at around 4pm, satisfied at the work we had done.

"Pipes, I think it's time to take a break," I spoke from behind her, her fingers stopped from typing when my hand began to massage her shoulders, "you've barely slept the last 3 days."

"Yeah, alright."

She stood up and backed away from me. It felt like a slap in the face, however deserved it still stung to receive her rejection. I tried to convince myself it was just the stress. But in all honesty I was afraid, Piper had been so adamant on leaving and my mom was gone too. She was the only one I had left, I couldn't lose her.

"Hey, why don't you lie down for a while?" I suggest, "I'll get us some coffee downstairs."

She noded and I headed downstairs where I spotted a little bar counter and some tables when we entered. There was some shouting and a crowd of people by the entrance, I noticed as I went over to the woman behind the bar.

"Hey uh, what' going on over there?" I leaned over the counter to ask.

"Oh just this couple got in an argument," she let down the glass and rug, gestured to the coffee maker, "escalated kinda quickly. You wanted a coffee?"

"Yeah, one black and one double cream please."

"Alrighty."

While I waited for her to finish making my order, I placed my attention to the commotion on the other side. The guards were dragging a man away from the crowd, and there was a woman, I presumed was the wife or girlfriend, whose hand was bleeding. Whispers from the other table suggest something about the man having mental issues and bit the woman when she pointed at him as they argued.

"Here you go," she places two cups in front of me and I thank her, grab both cups, one in each hand and began my walk back to the room.

When I got back Piper was asleep on the bed, I suddenly felt a wave of fatigue wash over me too. So I left our coffee cups on the bedside table, save it for later, then crawled in bed with Piper.

When I woke up it was already midnight, Piper was still in the exact spot she had fall asleep on. I had gotten up to take a leak but I found myself with the realization that in a few days I would be burying my mom, the water in my eyes flowed as I sat there until I decided it was probably best to get as much rest before the busy days started up again. When I got back though Piper was seated up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Sorry, did I wake you up?"

"It's okay, I have to charge my phone anyway."

She walked to her bag and retrieved her phone and charger, plugged it on the outlet by the bedside table. I get back in bed and pat the space beside me, "You should sleep some more before we get too busy and you regret it."

"Okay," she got under the sheets and said, "Good night Alex." I snuggle up against her, rounded her middle with my arms. She's silent and I thought for a second she's fallen asleep.

"Hey, Al. Are you okay?"

Concern laced in her voice and I think how lucky I am to still have her here, "Yeah, I am."

I lift her hair and kiss her nape while she intertwines our fingers. We were silent for a while before I say, "Thanks Piper."

The only response I got was Piper's deep breaths, an indication she was both asleep and she must really have been tired.

* * *

 _January 22, 2003_

 _Piper_

I woke up at 6am feeling rested, Alex's arms were still persistently circling my waist. It had been a few days since I've had enough sleep and the warmth from the body beside me was luring me to get some more sleep but today was going to be a busy day and I wanted to get a head start, so with caution as not to wake Alex I untangle myself from her.

After I had taken my long hot shower I went about planning the day ahead, funeral homes, flowers, and caskets while drinking the cold coffee Alex had forgotten by the bedside table. After checking all the schedules at 7:15, I decided I needed to call Polly to tell her I would be back to Connecticut next week and a lot of things she's missed, she would be awake by now to get ready for work.

As I was getting up, my hip hit the table and I groaned from the shot of pain. Alex wakes up and looks around, spotting me holding on my injured hip and reaches for her glasses.

"Hey, what happened?"

"Sorry for waking you up, I hit the table when I was getting up to call Polly outside so I wouldn't wake you. Kinda defeats the purpose now."

"Isn't it kinda early to be calling Holly, Pipes?"

"Well, I wanted to let her prepare…"

"Prepare? For what?"

"For when I go back to Connecticut, I don't have a place to stay."

"What? You're still leaving?!" her voice was a few octaves higher now.

"Alex…"

"I can't fucking believe you. After all this," she stood up and marched towards me, "my mother just died."

"I'm sorry about your mom Al," I was feeling a little defensive now, "but this doesn't change anything, I won't be your mule anymore."

"Is that what you think this is?!," it's full on screaming match at this point, "God, you can be such an insensitive asshole sometimes. You knew what you were getting into, you think trips around the world are fucking free?!"

In response, I simply look her straight in the eye and say, "Fuck you."

The shock is evident on her face when I walk away and slam the bathroom door close. There was nowhere else to go so I just sat there, my back to the door and cried, sometimes wishing I had the resolve to slap her in the face and just get on the next plane home.

After some time, I sighed, got up and walked over to the sink to wash my face. My eyes were red and puffy from the crying, there were dark bags under them too, only 2 years and I looked so different from when I was 23 and fresh out of college even if I was jobless. Sick of looking at myself, I punch the mirror on impulse, resentment and anger. I can feel the broken glass pierce skin but the pain barely registers in my mind.

A sudden knock on the door takes my attention away from the broken glass, Alex's voice comes from behind, "Piper? I heard something breaking. Are you okay? Please, will you unlock the door…"

Thinking it was probably almost time to go meet up with Alex's aunt, I unlock the door but before I could get hold of the handle the knob twists and the door swings open.

Alex's eyes immediately darted to my bleeding hand, I muster all the resolve I have to keep my face emotionless and walk away from her while saying, "I'm fine, I'll pay for the broken mirror."

"Piper your hand is-"

"Yeah, well what do you care? I could have gotten shot in Brussels and all this wouldn't matter now would it?," I cut her off saying quietly, my face stoic but my voice full of resentment, "Just get ready so we can leave and get this day over with."

Alex just bows her head and walks away wide eyed. I almost feel sorry for saying what I did. Almost. But there wasn't a hint of regret when she asked me to carry that bag knowing I could have been killed if I failed, I remind myself.

I grabbed my sling bag next to Alex's backpack, neither of which we had unpacked and got some spare handkerchief I could use to wrap up my hand.

/

We arrived at Diane's place, a grand apartment on the third floor, by a rental car we'd called in yesterday, 30mins later than agreed. Alex rang the door twice, and again after about 3mins when nobody answered. After 5 more minutes, irritation was oozing out of me as I continually tapped my foot.

Sensing my irate mood, Alex decided to use the key she'd kept with her in case of emergencies.

Finally opening the door, Alex calls out, "Aunt Rach, you in here?"

Silence…

She turns to me, then points to the stairs saying, "You take the second floor rooms, I'll go check the kitchen and living room."

I nod to agree, glad for a little bit of space to lessen the tension between us. Watching her disappear behind the double doors, I head off to start searching.

The second floor came with a 4 step short stairs and an 8 step long stairs that were combined by a small platform in between. At the top, in front of the stairs, a little on the right, is the door to Diane's room. Next to Diane's room is Alex's and down the path is the second floor bathroom, where the door was open, indicating its unoccupied state. I'd been here a few times before Alex and I had gone traveling.

Diane's room was already slightly agape with some light seeping out. I knock twice before opening up the door fully.

"Hello?" I announce as I step inside.

The room was empty, Diane's old jacket hung on the armrest of chair by the table. The windows and cabinet doors were left open like someone had just been here but the room looked unused for days with visible dust settling on the surfaces. An old picture of Alex and her was on the nightstand, I walk towards it to pick it up but as I did, like an omen, a strong gush of wind blows from the windows that slams the door shut.

A startling noise resonates from the another room near me, just like the mirror at the hotel it sounded like broken glass. I walk to leave the room and as I open the door to look around I spot Alex's aunt inside the bathroom turned away from me.

I call out to her, "Aunt Rachel!"

I turn to the ledge to call out to Alex, "I found h-" I cut off as I see, from my peripherals, something suddenly moving towards me. Before I can turn to defend myself, I feel the wall, right next to the staircase, slam into my back and head. I raise my arms to push the my attacker but then I was punched on the right cheek causing me to fall down the 8 flights of stairs to the platform.

My visions dims but I can feel the adrenalines fighting back as my body struggles to remain conscious. I see the attacker and it's aunt Rachel but her face looked as though something was growing out of it.

I try to get up but the pain in my ribs from the fall makes me flinch. I look up and see aunt Rachel leap, her teeth bared and her eyes angry.

I close my eyes and lift my arms. It feels like time has slowed down and for a second it's completely silent. Then, a sound of something getting squished, then slammed. I can feel a warm liquid substance splash on my arms and clothes.

I open my eyes, there's blood everywhere and a headless body. I hear harsh breaths and look towards its direction to see Alex, golf club in hand and eyes wide.

"Shit."

 _A/N: OK. So this is the result of binge watching and playing, OITNB and The Last of Us. Dunno how to this is gonna play out so just bare with me. It's also the first time I've written anything so please be gentle. I won't pretend to be able to come at par with what either of those titles did. I bow down to them._

 _If you haven't played The Last of Us, I recommend it. All. The. Feels. In that game, just amazing. Hope you liked this._

 _If you liked it, let me know, if you did well then let me know too. Or not, it's your choice._


	2. Chapter 2 the road ahead

**All or Nothing**

 **Chapter 2: the road ahead**

 _January 30, 2003_

 _Piper_

"Okay, we need a plan," she says eyeing me as I pace around her late mother's apartment living room, "the 3 cans of beans won't last us very long."

A week had passed since our first encounter with the infected, the first time I'd ever seen that much blood. The shock and adrenaline pulsing through my system prevented me from screaming when the blood and broken skull lying in front of me finally registered in my brain that day.

Alex had grabbed the first thing she could use as a weapon when, from the kitchen windows, she saw people frantically running and a woman getting attacked. With caution she had gone to lock the doors when she heard the commotion upstairs to find me flying down the stairs and seconds away from her aunt biting my face off. When we finally got a grip from what happened, Alex muttering profanities along the way, we dumped the body out through the window and locked every opening in the apartment. We didn't bring up that incident ever since. We jammed the doors with whatever we could find, metal chairs, pipes, and bars. The windows we covered with bookshelves and drawers. Essentially sealing us off the outside.

The epidemic quickly turned the world upside down in a frenzy of self interest and preservation.

"Piper, will you please sit down."

I look at her in silent dismay, a certain panic rising from my stomach every time I'm reminded that all this was real, but I do as she says hoping to calm my nerves.

"Sorry."

"Alright, I think we need to leave here soon," she rubs her eyes behind her glasses, "the radio said that there was a quarantine zone in Queens. Shouldn't take us too long by car, sound good?"

We had parked the car, a mid sized van, by the alley way between the apartment building and a small two storey grocery store beside it. Although I didn't really want to leave yet, I nodded in approval, seeing the sense in Alex's words and with my head down and eyes glued to the floor I say, "Yeah, okay."

The sudden touch of her hand on my shoulder brings me back from my thoughts.

"Hey, we'll get through this, like we always do," I found little assurance in her words as she rubs her hands on arms, "come on, we need to pack up with anything we can use, so look around."

I head for the kitchen to take whatever food we have left and a first aid kit that was surprisingly there. I hear Alex climb the stairs to the second floor and follow suit. Half way from her room, she calls out to me.

"Pipes, come on up! I think have something."

I hurry my steps up the stairs to her room. When I arrive, she's holding up an empty backpack in hand and tosses it to me, "Transfer your stuff in there, the sling bag will be hard to move on."

My sling bag had some clothes, my phone, a camera, and my wallet. "I found these in the kitchen," I say to her while unpacking my things from the sling bag to the black and grey backpack.

"Great kid, I can carry the cans in my bag," she replies between looking for things on her desk, her back to me, "think you got enough free space for the kit?"

"Yeah I got it."

"I didn't want to have to use this but it doesn't look like we have much of a choice," she turns around to face me and I can see there's a revolver in her hands, "only 2 rounds, not a lot but it'll have to do."

I simply nod, fully aware of the implications. If we survive, someone else might have to die.

"Here," she strides forward a switchblade in hand to her outstretched arm, "for emergencies."

I'm reluctant but I take it anyway, it was reassuring to have some form of weapon on me even if the thought of actually using it on someone was terrifying.

"Alright, I think we're all packed up. You ready Pipes?"

"I don't think it'll make a difference no matter how long we wait," I mumble to her, "so yeah, I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

I get up and sling my backpack over my shoulder when Alex approaches and says, "Hey, we'll be okay."

"Yeah."

/

"Come on then, we're using the emergency stairs," Alex informs me as she grabs the rental car keys, "I don't know if there are infected neighbors so we're definitely not using the hallway out."

I nod and follow behind Alex who was opening the backdoor to the emergency escape stairs, holding it open for me step out. We were three storeys up which gave us some vantage over any potential threats.

Other than some visible evidences of a struggle, overturned dumpsters and garbage bags, cars missed parked all over the streets, and broken windows of other buildings, the place was quiet.

"The city seems really quaint now," I say.

"Quaint?" she asks raising an eyebrow.

"Well how would you describe it?"

"Empty," she replies while closing and locking the door to the apartment.

"You need all those keys?"

I have a look of confusion and question on my face, reading my thoughts she simply shrugs and says, "In case we have some use for it later, I don't want the infected roaming around."

"Alright Pipes, looks like it's all clear down below," she points at the corner of the building, "the car should just be around that corner."

We slowly step down from the emergency stairway, trying our best to stay quiet, Alex in her biker boots and I in her pair of military boots that she lent me. We jump off where the ladder ends towards the ground floor, afraid lowering it would cause too much noise. You could never be too careful in these circumstances.

We do a little crouch sprint to the corner. Alex takes a little peek but turns back around in less than a second.

"What?" I ask in a low whisper.

"Just our luck, there's one just like aunt Rach between us and the car, one in front by the hood but it's sure to notice us if I fire the revolver."

"Well, do we go back?"

"No. No point in us to hole up in an empty apartment," and she was right but I'd rather hole up than get infected.

"Umm, okay look," it was my turn to take a peek, "we can just sneak to the van's backdoor but we need to take out that one."

"How? Withou-" then it hit me, "oh fuck no, you want me to stab it from behind?! You said this was for emergencies."

"This is the emergency and we don't have much of a choice right now!"

We were arguing in hushed angry tones when we suddenly heard moaning, and instantly we both shut up.

"Look, you're lighter on your feet than me and your boots were made to be quiet. Babe you got this," she says to me in no more than a whisper.

I pause for awhile then with a scowl on my face I mouth a 'fine' but God, did I hates this.

I peek behind the corner again and steady myself. _Breath Piper._ Very slowly and carefully I start crouch walking towards the infecteds back with my switchblade in my right hand at a ready. Right before I stabbed it in the neck, I say a silent prayer to whatever being was up there that this worked without a hitch. I slowly got up and with both hands on the blade on its neck.

Then suddenly it gave a loud shriek turning around, alerting everything in a close vicinity. _Fuck, it was still alive._ I quickly dragged the blade with all my strength to slash open its throat. The infected goes limp and I struggle to remove the blade from its bleeding neck. After some more pulling I manage to get it out by kicking the corpse but falling on my ass from lack of balance.

"Piper get down!" I hear Alex shout from behind me then, BANG!

I tuck my head under my arms on instinct at the loud noise. I raise my head to see that Alex had completely missed the other infected running towards me with its hand flailing erratically.

I turn my body around in an attempt to run but as I get up I see Alex's revolver at its direction, I dive to the ground covering my head.

BANG! BANG!

 _Shit!_ I look back to see the infected thing on the ground in a pool of its own blood.

"There's probably more coming now," Alex says rushing to get to me, "Come on, we're leaving."

She grabs my arm to help me up, then fishes for the keys in her pocket. Screams from across the alley were audible, they were getting here fast. At least three of those things were running towards us from the street.

She tosses the keys to me instructing, "Get in the car and start it up, I'll buy us some time."

Alex starts shooting at the nearest infected runner and I dash for the car door, noticing it was locked I fumbled around the keys to look for the right one. Luckily there were only three keys attached to the key chain, for the front door and back door of the apartment and the car. Got it right on the second try and quickly stuck it in for the ignition. The infected were getting close when the engine finally came to life.

"Alex! Leave them and get in!"

She opens the passenger seat door and jumps in slamming the door shut.

"Alright go! Floor it!"

I do exactly as she said, ramming two of the infected running towards us. _Oh fuck!_ I could feel the impact of the car colliding with flesh, a bit of blood sprayed on the windshield asI frantically drive us towards the highway and away from there, my foot never letting up on the gas pedal until Alex's voice pulls me out of panic mode.

"Hey, I think we're good. You can slow down now."

"Yeah, yeah okay," I sigh.

"That was fucking scary, huh?"

"Scary? I was terrified."

We got quiet then, remembering all the events just a few minutes ago. Suddenly I feel so tired, coming out of this whole ordeal so I turn to Alex, "You mind taking the wheel?"

"Sure thing babe," her lips curve up a little and in turn so do mine, "you should probably clean your hands too."

I look at my hands on the wheel and notice how bloody it was. From sticking my pocket knife in that things throat. I hold in the bile that was rising up from my stomach because of the gore I had caused.

"Yeah…" was the only reply I gave in a small weak voice.

I stop the car and move to the back seat, where we'd placed our bags, while Alex moves to the driver's seat to take the wheel.

 _One hour later_

 _Alex_

Seems like most people have already either evacuated to a quarantine zone or their in hiding, we haven't seen a soul in the past hour on the road and it was giving me a weird gut feeling that something was gonna go wrong.

Piper had been asleep when our first dilemma had landed itself on us. The road was blocked by a bus that looked like it crashed from a steep turn. With a mountain to our left and the woods to our right, there was no getting this van pass that bus.

"Great…" I mutter to myself.

I look back and see Piper begin to stir awake. There was no point turning back now. We were halfway there and we wouldn't have enough gas to use the nearest alternative road anyway.

"What's wrong?" I hear Piper say, her voice still groggy from sleep.

I point up ahead at the bus and she sits up.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Well, now what?"

"Let's go see if we can do something about that bus."

"Alright."

It was a large bus, two seats on both sides, high with a lot of luggage space. It's been abandoned for at least a few days with a coat of dust settling. There wasn't much anything inside, the key was in the ignition but the engine wouldn't fire up.

"Hey, Al. I found a luggage bag over here."

"Find anything we could use?"

"Just a couple of t-shirts and a flashlight. Guess these people were in a hurry."

"Doesn't look like we can get the car pass this. It's pretty big."

"Yeah… hey isn't this a tourist bus?"

Actually it never occurred to me if it was, I didn't think it would matter, "I don't know. Does it matter?"

"Well don't tourist buses usually have maps of the area?"

"You might be on something there."

And she was. We searched the front of the bus and right under the driver seat was indeed a little bag with fliers, locations, tourist's spots, and a map. _Bingo!_

"Good job kiddo," I congratulate her, this could potentially get us out of this rut.

"Thanks."

"Alright, let's take a look at that thing."

"I think we should be near here," she points at the road indicators on the map.

"Mm-hmm," I look out the bus window thinking of how to proceed, "I don't think there's getting the van anywhere further so I guess we're walking."

"Do we just follow the road?"

"No. The sun's going down, trekking in the dark would be a bad idea."

"Okay then where are we walking to?"

"Look," now it's my turn to point at the map, "If we cut through the woods there should be a little town near by where we could possibly find another car or a place to stay and some supplies."

"Doesn't look like we have other options."

"Come on then, let's go grab our bags."

With the map, we take a pair of t-shirts and the flashlight, stuff it in our backpack and head off towards the woods.

 _A/N: Heyya, took a while and even then it's pretty short but at least it's done. Hope you guys like it. Lemme know in the reviews or PM me._

 _I don't really know where this is going so I don't know if it'll be long or short, sorry. Kinda just going with it. Oh and there might be stuff there I've made up, like locations and the tourist buses having all that crap (don't know if that was realistic).I don't live in the US so it's kinda hard to tell how things look like over there. For any of those mistakes I'm sorry._


	3. Chapter 3 hide and seek

**All or Nothing**

 **Chapter 3: hide and seek**

 _January 30, 2003_

 _Midnight_

 _Alex_

"Agh! Fuking...finally. I can see...the town...right there."

So the town wasn't as near as I had thought it was on the map, the uneven walking trail in the woods didn't help us getting here either and with the sun going down when we left the van, Piper insisted we don't stop for any breaks hoping we get there before the next day arrived.

"You alright?" I can tell there's some amusement in her voice. The silent _I told you so_ lingered in the air.

I hold up my hand, "Yeah, I know. I should have gone jogging with you when you kept asking."

And now she's smirking at me, I groan in displeasure from being the butt of a joke.

Piper had always been very fit, jogged every morning when I slept in. It was no wonder she wasn't even breaking a sweat while I was panting like I just finished a marathon.

The town was fenced and barb wired on top. It was small from how much we could see, just one main road possibly leading to the highway and a couple of side streets.

"Hey, right there I see a gate," Piper says from behind me, pointing up ahead.

The gate was locked, I suppose it was wishful thinking that it wouldn't be. Everyone had good reason to be locking up every since the outbreak.

"Pipes, get that flashlight over here, maybe there's a way to prop this thing open."

After some time fiddling with the gate and looking for anything to break the lock we were yet again stuck in another ditch.

"We can't open the gate." she says.

"Nope. And Can't climb it either."

"So now what?"

"We could try going around."

"Okay, maybe we can get in from another gate."

"Here, give me that flashlight. We can actually pin it in our backpacks."

I take the flashlight and wrap a spare cloth around the angle head and Pipers backpack strap. "There, let's go."

We follow the outside of the fence in hopes it would lead us to another entrance or someway to get inside. After a while of walking we find no other gate or entrance we could use while the forest simply stretches on and the night grows colder.

"Let's look around, maybe we'll find something."

We go on searching the area separately, which was hard because we only had one flashlight, and I find nothing more than an old detached pipe and some empty bottles.

"Alex! Come here. I found an open shack."

But I can hear some faint moaning in the silence of the night and turn towards it to find Piper opening the door to the shack. Realization quickly hit me and I shout for Piper, "Don't open the door!"

Just then Piper turns her head towards me oblivious of the danger she's in, her hands continuing to open the door. A loud screech resonates from inside the shack and Piper's head snaps back to its direction.

Piper gets pushed back and falls to the ground with the infected, Piper wrestling with what used to be a woman.

I pick up the empty bottle and throw it at the infected woman, it breaks and stuns her for just enough time for me to pick up the pipe. It lets out another loud scream, about to run towards me but from beneath Piper stabs it's leg with her switchblade. I rush towards it and bat it's head as hard as I could and it was much heavier than hitting a ball in high school PE class. _Splat!_ The sound of breaking skull so familiar.

"Shit," she breaths out. We're both panting hard, my heartbeat going two beats a second.

"You okay?"

"Define…" she's panting hard, "okay."

"Still breathing."

"Yeah I guess if small panicked breaths count."

"Yeah they count."

"Then I'm okay."

"Great. Catch your breath then we can stay in the shack for now, I don't wanna be out there in case that thing had friends. Especially in the dark."

I grab hold of Piper's arm to help her up, when she's up right I look her once over to make sure she was alright, no wounds, no fucking infection. When I finish, we walk into the shack. My pistol pointed up in case of any unforeseen threats.

"Alright it's clear. Let's see if there anything we can use then we can rest up for the night."

The shack wasn't big, about just enough for the both of us to move around each other. It did however have shelves and closets. One we used to block the door. As we looked around we found a variety of cleaning tools, a mop, a broom, a bush cutter, some scissors, and electrical tape.

"Al, I found another flashlight," she says as she clicks the tool on and off to test if it works.

"Good find there kid."

Just like how I did on her flashlight, she straps the one she found on my backpack strap with the electrical tape we found.

"Alright it's time we got some rest, we can keep looking for a way in tomorrow."

"Okay. Good night, Alex."

"Good night, kiddo."

The floor is uncomfortable and the cold penetrates through our clothes to our bones but we're alive, although exhausted, and we did find a place to rest. So with our backpacks as pillows and our energy running low we fall asleep in minutes, our bodies close searching for warmth.

 _January 31, 2003_

 _Piper_

I could see light seeping in the cracks of the shack when I woke up. There was an ache I could feel on my back and side from yesterday's run-in with the infected and the discomfort of the hard ground, it was, however, good to wake up to the smell of food for my grumbling stomach.

"Morning, Pipes."

"That smells good."

"Yeah? Well come on eat up. If we don't find another car, it might take a whole day's walking to get to the QZ."

So I sit down near Alex's pack and grab one of the cans of pork and beans, open it with my switchblade and dig in. I savor it knowing this might be the only meal for today.

I can hear Alex rummaging through the different things we found and piled together yesterday as I continue to eat my food.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm thinking we could probably make some use of all these stuff."

Alex takes the scissors and starts wrapping it on the pipe she used last night with the tape we found. I suppose it did come in pretty handy and decided it wouldn't hurt to be equipped, even though I thought for a second it seemed crazy from what life used to be.

"Um pretty smart I guess," I nod as I say so hoping it looked more genuine than how I really felt.

"Alright, finish that," she points at the near empty can of beans in my hand, "and grab your backpack so we can go look for a way in that town again."

I finish what's left of my beans and grab my pack. I hold out my knife after seeing Alex by the door holding out her pistol. I haven't heard any moaning outside and hopefully that was a good sign.

"Ready?"

"Yeah."

Very slowly Alex starts opening the door with as little sound as possible. She scans for any sign of the infected, pistol pointed straight ahead. Luckily there were none.

"All clear."

"Thank God."

"Come on then."

We start searching separately just as last night, although hopefully with no more infected this time. Alex searches near the fence where there was a one storey brick building with a locked metal door. So we keep walking hoping to find a way around it. At least until we stopped at a dead end.

"Fucking great."

"Hey maybe we could use this," there was a long plank of wood that looked like it had once been a bench under a tree, "if we can climb on top of the shack somehow."

"That's a good idea. We could use the closet in the shack."

I lift one side and Alex lifts the other. We start walking back to the shack and place the plank upright on the side. We both push the closet outside to use as leverage to climb on top of the shack. Alex goes and pick up the plank we've place by the shack and positions it on a one storey brick building connecting the fences.

"Alright, we should be able to cross with this."

"Hopefully."

Alex starts balancing on the piece of wood, taking one step at a time until she final reaches the other roof, "Careful, it's a bit shaky."

"I got it," I start crossing the the plank.

"We're finally fucking inside," Alex says out loud when we jump off the building, "not that I'm complaining."

"Yup. Good job Al."

"Likewise kiddo."

"Okay, so do we go look for a car?"

She scratches her head saying, "I doubt we'll find one but I guess we can try."

"Well how 'bout over there?" I point towards a house, "That look like a garage."

We walk over to the house and immediately notice a gaping hole on the second floor wall next to the balcony. We look at each other, neither of us with any idea what happened or what it could mean for us.

"Let's try the garage door first," Alex suggests and I nod in affirmation, "Pipes, see if we can lift this."

We pull about three times before concluding that this gate was not budging.

"Might be locked from the inside."

"Maybe if we could get up there we could find something to open it up with," she points at the second floor hole.

"We could reach it if one of us carries the other."

"..."

"..."

"Fine. I'll go," she sighs as she says it.

Alex takes position under the balcony, "Come on, give me your foot."

With her hands together I center my foot, finding the right balance. With enough effort from Alex I reach the balcony ledge just enough to pull myself up. I scan the immediate vicinity ready to neutralize any threats with my knife that I've pulled out my bag's side pocket.

"Clear up here."

"Now you just need to get me something to climb on."

"Right. One sec Al," I take in the second floor of the house. Inside, from the balcony, was a bedroom. There were no ladders I could see so I decided it was time to improvise. I take off the sheets from the bed, took some extra cloth from the clothes left in some drawers and start tying them together. I hold on to one side the improvised rope and let it fall down the balcony. I settle one leg on some intact railing for resistance.

"Climb on."

"Smart Pipes," she says tugging on the cloth as she pulls herself up. We reach out to each other when Alex nears the top and I pull her up.

"We should probably look around first."

"Right. I'll go look on that side of the house."

The second floor had three other rooms from the one near the balcony. Two kids bedroom where I found a notebook with some diary entries which I packed in, probably a teenage girl's room, the other room filled with posters and I found an arm guard for archery, then in between the three rooms was a bathroom with towels, I took two in case Alex wanted one.

When I felt I had thoroughly searched the area I headed downstairs to find Alex.

"Al?"

"In here. I found some food."

I followed her voice into a small kitchen where she was kneeling taking cans of food from the cupboards. She packs them up in her bag before asking, "Find anything up there?"

"Just this," I show her the arm guard I found, "and some towels I packed in my bag."

"Might come in handy, keep it. Anyway, let's go check on that garage."

We walk towards the direction of the garage which was four flights of stairs down next to the backdoor.

There was a car unfortunately the batteries were missing but it did seem apparent that the house was abandoned by the owner or raided, if the gaping hole was any indication.

"I guess getting another car was a bit of a long shot."

"Hey there's a door there," I point near the side of the car, "maybe there's a spare battery there."

Alex approaches and tries to turn the knob but to no avail.

"Here we can actually use this," Alex takes the pipe she had hanging from her backpack and unwraps one blade of broken scissors. She starts picking at the door and miraculously opens it.

"Where did you learn that?" I say a little wide eyed.

"I use to sneak out in high school," she says with a nonchalant shrug of her shoulders.

Our attention snap back to the now open metal door. There was no battery but there was a compound bow, not bulky and perfect for carrying around.

"That explains the arm guard I found."

"You know how to use this Pipes?" Alex asks holding the bow and examining it.

"I've tried it a few times when Cal asked me to go with him," the mention of my little brother's name twists a little bit of my insides, I don't even know if they're okay or where they are. During the outbreak, cellphones went out quickly. Electricity was out by the 4th day at the apartment.

Alex's voice snaps me out my own thoughts, "Good, because I have no idea how this works."

She hands me the bow and I take all the arrows inside the utility closet which totaled nine. With some pieces of rubber I duck taped together as a buffer for the tips not to pierce through my pack, I place the arrows in vertical for easy access if we need them.

"So much for that. Guess we're walking kid."

We exit the house by the backdoor to the backyard when suddenly we hear voices of people, talking. I couldn't hear what they were saying before one of the the two voices started yelling.

"We know you're there!"

We both get down as fast as we could hoping they didn't spot us. We crouch to the house walls and through a broken window we poke out our heads to see two men with shotguns, their back turned.

We duck back down and eye each other completely confused as what to do.

…

BANG!

 _Shit!_ My arms instinctively wrap around my head for protection. I look at Alex thinking she had fired a shot but her revolver was still tucked in her jean waistband.

With a loud thud one of the armed men drop on the ground, red covering his body fast. The other man turns a 90 degrees and fires his shotgun.

"You're gonna pay for that asshole!" he shouts.

From the distance we can see a few more heavily armed men cautiously approaching this area.

"Shit…" Alex grabs and drags me by the arm, away from potentially being seen, "Oh this place is bad, we're getting the fuck out of here Pipes."

Slowly and crouched down we stay hidden behind houses as we follow the main roads hoping to reach the exit. After half a dozen houses and some buildings we see the gate from behind a restaurant window but with it were three armed men guarding the exit.

"Al what do we do? How are we getting out?"

"There's a door there into the restaurant, we'll have to find something to distract them."

"How?"

"I don't know. We'll figure something out."

We keep low as we look around for something that we could possibly use to get pass them. But as we move around, me following behind Alex, she hits a table with a vase and down it goes with a loud cracking sound.

"You hear that?!" one of the men asks.

 _Fuck._ We both suck a little lower and stick to the wall hoping we haven't been found out.

Farther away we can hear them talking, "Go and check it out."

We can hear a set of footsteps approaching a nearby window. Alex signals for me to get down as she aims her revolver at the open window ready for when the guy jumps over.

A sudden shout and gunshot rings through, "I found the-"

A body goes limp hanging in front of me from the window frame, blood running down from his back.

"Shit," I say surprised.

Alex grabs my arm tightly, "Now's our chance," as the gunfight outside continues on.

We sprint for the gates but one of the men with a shotgun is standing guard refusing to leave his position. He aims his gun towards us ready to fire but in one swift motion I see Alex pick up a bottle as we run and throws it right on his head stunning him. I pull out my switchblade and stab him in the arm. He drops the shotgun and Alex comes in to punch him straight in the face and knocks him out.

Alex picks up the shotgun and points it at the general direction of the gunfight shouting, "We don't want any trouble! Come out."

Two heads poke out from behind some dumpsters with a pistol pointed at us, they don't seem as hostile as the group of men though.

The one with a handgun had crazy bush blonde hair, her companion was also a woman with black hair and looked to have some Italian features. Both were just wearing jeans and thin jackets for this winter weather.

"Look we just want to get through," I say.

"Tell your partner to lower her the shotgun then blondie," replies the crazy maned one.

"They seem okay Al," I whisper to Alex.

"Are you insane? They'll shoot us."

"They won't," I argue back looking her straight in the eye.

"How would you know?"

"Because if they would they'd have shot us before you picked up that shotgun," I pause and sigh, "Trust me on this Al."

Her brows furrow but she mouths a silent _fine._ Very slowly she lowers her gun and half way down an audible sigh can be heard from the other party.

"Oh thank god, I was out of ammo."

 _A/N: Sorry it took so long. I write slow but anywhoozies, I hope y'all liked it._

 _For the people who've played TLOU, as you may have already guessed this is basically Bill's town._

 _Lemme know what you thought of it._


	4. Chapter 4 safety in numbers

_So before everything else I'd like to use this first section to thank all the people who like and follow this story and especially the reviewers who take the time to write me a comment. This one is for you,_ _ **deathlyhollow0**_ _,_ _ **jomichael03**_ _,_ _ **Skye9598**_ _,_ _ **alvause**_ _,_ _ **VonZeppy**_ _,_ _ **WB79**_ _, and the_ _ **Guest**_ _(maybe you'll let me know who you are one day)._

 **All or Nothing**

 **Chapter 4: safety in numbers**

 _Midday_

 _Alex_

"I'm Nicky Nichols, this is my… uhh... friend, Lorna Morello," Nichols, the crazy haired one says with a nod.

"I'm Alex," I respond curtly still doubtful of these people's intentions, especially with this unforeseen predicament we'd found ourselves in, "this is Piper."

Our plan of get a car or walk to the QZ while defending ourselves against any bites had basically gone to hell, we never imagined we'd be firing at other people with these circumstances.

"Thanks for asking her to not, you know, blow our heads off," I hear Nichols say to Piper with a hand gesture mimicking an explosion. But our introductions came to a short end when we heard some voices coming from afar, "This is probably a bad place to chat," I announce as we all duck our heads down as not to be seen.

"Ah shit, more of those hunters," Nichols says searching the body of one of the men she called hunters. With some ammo she found she reloads the shotgun of man they shot in the gunfight. I have my shotgun at a ready if they try anything.

"We could help each other," Piper suggests.

"Piper," I say harshly in a low tone, thinking how dangerous the suggestion had been.

"Come on Al, safety in numbers and all that."

"She right," the other girl Morello cuts in, her tone in distinct new york accent, before I could retort, "we could help each other, we have a hideout near here."

Piper looks me in the eye and I look back, we break eye contact when Nichols chimes in, "They're coming, what's it gonna be stretch?"

I grunt in disapproval but seeing as he had better chances of survival from those hunters together, I agreed nonetheless, "Fine. Take us there."

"Great. Rather have a friendly face."

"Nicky come on before they find these dead bodies," Lorna gestures for a building.

"Alright, in that building and up those stairs."

"Piper come on, I'll cover the back," I step behind Piper as we enter the building and silently climb the stairs. On the second floor were what seemed to be offices with a number of tables and chairs, the first room connected to a hallway.

I bump into Piper's back when we come to a sudden stop before we exit the room to the hall.

"Whoa, hold on," Nichols stretches her arm out to block us going forward, "look there, a runner."

"Fuck, those things again," I mutter.

"This hall is the only way there without going through an open field," Morello informs us, "it was clear when we crossed here yesterday."

"Anyone got any ideas how we can flank that guy quietly?"

Using the guns would be the last resort. We didn't know how many more of those things there were and there were hunters just outside the building who were bound to hear a gunshot from this distance. Throwing the bottle I had with me would be too risky and the fucker was facing our side of the hallway so there was no sneaking pass it.

"How about this?" Piper holds out the bow and arrow we found earlier.

/

 _Piper_

"That might just work blondie," Nicky says to me with approval and I smile at her but immediately Alex cuts in, "No fucking way."

"Alex I can do this," I say firmly.

"No," she says dismissively.

"You let me shank the one in Jersey."

"Well, we didn't have much of choice."

"We don't have a choice right now either."

"Piper…"

"It'll be fine, I promise."

"If you miss that thing is gonna come running right at us, you know that right?"

"I know, you might get to use that improv pipe you made," I chuckle a little, "you looked a little crazy with that you know."

"Shut up," she says in mock annoyance, muttering something about blondes with college degrees being the death of her.

"I got this."

 _I got this._ I repeat in my head to rid of the doubt that I could only make things worse because when I said Cal would take me with him I meant he did around 7 years ago.

 _For Christ sake Piper, don't miss._ I prep talk myself as I peak on the edge of the room to look at the infected, its head was bowed and its body twitching. I test draw my bow before attaching the arrow. It was heavy but comfortable enough to aim.

I try my best to remember everything we did on those classes Cal dragged me to about archery. I steady my hands and arms as best I can and with an exhale I let go of my draw, the arrow flying across the hall. I even close my eyes for a second after I shot. I open them up again to look back when I hear Nicky say, "Shit, that girl of yours is a damn good shot," with a large grin.

"Whew, I'm impressed Pipes. Dead center," Alex complements, her breath right at my ear.

And she's right, the arrow hit exactly right at the forehead. The body fell backwards with blood spilling all over the floor when we come closer, I can feel bile rising to my throat as I try and remove the arrow from the infecteds head. Some fungal growth was visible on its body and face.

"Creepy," I mutter to myself.

"So much for that," Nicky shrugs, "let's go."

Nicky and Lorna walk ahead, Alex and I walk behind them not really knowing the way. Alex takes my hand and walks in rhythm with me, "Hey kid, how you holding up?"

"I'm fine."

"You were looking a little green, pulling out that arrow."

"Just a little but I'm okay."

"You're doing a good job," I look at her a little surprised at where this was all coming from but Alex kept her eyes trained ahead, "I thought you should know."

"I try not to let you down, especially where our lives depend on it."

She smiles then sighs, "I know, I'm try to say thanks. Especially when mom died because I think the world would have ended earlier if you'd left, well my world at least," I grip her hand a little harder when she finishes.

"Well you did mash a few heads for my sake," she chuckles when I say that, "it's probably not the most romantic thing you've done but it's up there."

We're both laughing a little now and Alex turn to look at me and kiss my cheek.

We snap out of our little world when we hear Nicky's voice, "We're here by the way," she's raising an eyebrow and smirking at us, "I see y'all bat for the softball team."

"Before you start with your kinsley scale lecture," Alex quickly says before I can say a word, "where the hell are we?"

Being too preoccupied, I hadn't noticed that we were in a large room with multiple large windows, a bad place to be hiding out. Hard to defend and easy to spot, "This can't be it?"

"Relax you two, see that big window," Nicky points at where Lorna is standing looking out, "well there's a little platform where we placed a plank to the other building."

"It's all clear Nicky," Lorna says while climbing over the window.

I follow suit with Nicky in front of me and Alex behind. The distance wasn't close, I'm sure I wouldn't reach it by jumping but the plank looked sturdy enough to cross.

"Be careful crossing, it's going to be a little shaky," Lorna warns as she crosses to the other side.

"We've had some practice," I say in response.

/

 _Alex_

The hideout had some good defences, the building window was the only way in or out, with the stairs to the building completely barricaded with desks, cabinets, and chairs. We also moved the plank to this side of the building in case anyone spotted it.

"Look I get that it's hard to trust a couple of strangers but relax Alex," I turn around to find Nichols, with her arms crossed.

"Vause," I say in an attempt to be less hostile, if we're gonna be stuck with them for awhile then it might be best to build some trust, "my name's Alex Vause."

Approaching from the right Piper joins in, "And I'm Piper Chapman," in all innocence and trust extends her hand to shake Nichols'.

"Blondie's starting to grow in me actually," Nichols teases with a smirk and Piper shoves her shoulder a little as they both laugh.

"Oh we have some food and water, you want some?"

Almost simultaneously Piper says _yes_ as I, contrarily, say _no_. "I'm not that hungry," I say to ease the look of confusion on Piper's face. Nichols guides Piper to where Morello is opening a bag of berries before she comes back beside me.

"Relax, we're safe."

"So why haven't you left?"

"We were headed for those quarantine zones in the news but…" she pauses and sighs, "well let's say that didn't work out."

"You're just gonna wait here?"

"We'd leave," she starts walking towards a small window on the wall and wave for me to follow, "but see that's the exit we want to use. Those bastards congregate down there everyday guarding that gate for any stragglers to steal their stuff."

"Why this exit?"

"The main gate leads to the highway, it's blocked, by the military, they're no better than these guys," there's a vague look of hate on Nichols face as she says this.

"You're waiting it out?"

"Kind of. We're waiting for an opening."

"And?"

"I'm thinking you guys might be our opening."

I furrow my eyebrows at her, my mouth in a delicate straight line, "How?"

"See at night those fuckers are down to the skeleton crew, sneak right past 'em if we take out a few guards with yo girls shooting."

I think over that plan for a while before sighing out loud, knowing we didn't really have much of a choice. But having Piper's hands dirty with blood was something I wanted to avoid entirely. When I worked with the cartel, I tried not to get her too involved, just enough to reassure Kubra she wouldn't turn us into the feds.

"We'll see."

Nichols nods in acceptance to my response. I cross my arms in thought awhile more before I turn back to sit with Piper, continuing to keep silent, not really knowing how I could possibly explain that she needs to shoot people, actual people not infected ones.

"Everything okay Al?" Piper began.

"Yeah of course, why wouldn't it be?"

"Just… nevermind," she pauses, she can probably tell something was up and I wasn't telling her, she continues, "So what's the plan?"

Nichols sits down beside Morello and I sigh, _here we go._ Nichols starts explaining.

"We were thinking of sneaking past them at night, they have a few people on patrol but nearly half of them will be gone but th-" I cut her off.

"But the thing is we need to look for a path first, tonight."

I see Nichols glare at me but I refuse to back down. Piper looks at us, eyebrows raised and maybe a little suspicious, "Sounds like a good idea," she finally says somewhat unsure and hesitant.

* * *

 _February 1, 2003_

 _Location unknown_

 _Piper_

There's a certain buzz in my head that I can't shake, like a hangover where you refuse to wake up but the light sips in only making it worse, so I slowly open my eyes and take in my surrounding. _What happened? Where am I?_ In front of me is a brick wall with two small windows, completely unfamiliar. As I whack my brain trying to remember, flashes of yesterday night roll in like a movie in my head, when I hear a sound from behind me.

I turn around on my knees to inspect where the noise came from but I found myself in a caged room, a fence keeping me inside. The sound goes off again and my eyes widen in fear and shock once I see where it came from.

Arms and legs, human ones…

"Shit."

The man butchering the dead body stops and turns to me, I drop to the ground backwards. _Shit shit shit I'm going to die, he's gonna kill me too._ But unexpectedly he stabs the butcher knife onto the wooden table and walks out the door.

To say that everything went pretty damn badly last night would be an understatement.

/

We had gone to look for a vantage point to plan for the escape operation and to see what the usual activities of the hunters were at night. Our team had gone around to use a taller building, a perfect spot for observation. Unbeknownst to us the building was swarming with infected, we made a break for it out the emergency exit and jumped on a warehouse roof. To make things worse the warehouse was one of the hunter's hideouts. The noise from running on the roof alerted the hunters, half of them came after us, the other defending against the infected horde that we had unintentionally drawn to them.

As the hunters started shooting at us, we turned towards a side alley beside the warehouse, bad idea. A trailer crashed on high wall, a dead end, two buildings beside us and no way forward. Nicky started to return fire, killing the first one to catch up.

"Shit, we're sitting ducks here."

"Over here!" we turn to Alex, she raised her shotguns butt and slammed it on the glass window, "Inside now!"

We entered another office building, almost completely black without any moonlight to illuminate the room.

Alex grabbed my hand and bolted for a nearby cubicle, "Down down."

I mirrored Alex crouching down, I let out my bow just in case. Alex placed her shotgun on her bag's makeshift holster, held on instead to her revolver. Not too long after, we heard footsteps on the broken glass of the window. Alex quietly broke from cover to aim, using the shadow and unadjusted eyes of the hunters to our advantage. She took the shot downing one guy but alerted the other of her location. I saw the other guy move for his shotgun aimed for her direction and I tackled Alex to the ground hoping to avoid any bullets.

Another two gunshots ring, I looked up to see Nicky having shot the other guy down.

"Ugh, shit."

Nicky goes to check if there are anymore and I turned my attention to a groaning Alex, my flashlight on.

"Fuck!" she got hit, blood sipping out of her left shoulder, "Alex you're bleeding."

"It's nothing fatal, just… shit," her face contorted in pain. I remember the first aid kit we had packed in my bag before we left her mom's apartment and scramble around my bag looking for it.

I took the bandage, "Al just bare with me, we need to stop the bleeding, I'm gonna move you sideways okay?" I moved her to lay on her right side as she shut her eyes close from the pain, I lift her arm up and started wrapping the cloth tightly around the wound.

"We're clear for now, how's Vause blondie?" Nicky asks behind me.

"Okay, there. That should hold," I say after securing the bandage, "Al can you stand?"

"Yeah."

"Alright c'mon, there's probably more of those guys coming."

I help Alex up and over the window, I saw a half ladder on the side of the trailer and called for everyone's attention, "Look over there, we should be able to reach that with a boost."

I stood under the truck, hands held together just as Alex did when we climbed the balcony.

"Nicky you first, you can keep an eye out," Nicky nods and sets her foot on my hands, the other on my shoulder as she reached for the ladder. Next was Lorna who had some trouble reaching the high trailer until Nicky grabbed her hand and pulled her up.

Then not too far we heard voices, "Where are those guys?!"

"Shit come on Al, hurry."

Alex stepped on my hands and I push her up, her hands reaching for leverage, she grips tightly on but the ladder breaks off just in time for Nicky to catch Alex's hand and with the help of Lorna, they pulled her up to safety.

"We need something to help her climb up," Alex says above, all three of them looking around for anything that could help but came up short.

"Hey! There they are!" one of the hunter's shout.

Alex and Nicky start shooting, the hunter taking cover to defend themselves.

"Just go! I'll find a way around," I tell them as I moved towards the building we used hoping it might lead me to the other side.

"Piper!"

"You need to get that shoulder fixed, Nicky you take care of her, find a good hiding spot," I mustered all the resolve I have to hide the fear in my expression, "I'll be fine. See you soon."

I jumped over the window and quickly try and navigate for a strategic hiding spot as Alex did, for when they came looking for me. I noticed the body of one of the hunters had a wrist watch, I hastily take it as I waited for the firing outside to stop.

After about three minutes the gunfight ceases, _ten minutes and I'll move on._ Not long after I heard a few men talking, I'm not entirely sure how many but I could tell there's at least three.

"You go and tell the boss, you with me, there's one more here."

I could hear them entering the building, I hope they look past here and moved on.

"Search the area."

 _Fuck._

Near the window I could see the profile of a bottle, very carefully I moved towards it. From what I could see there were two hunters, one was walking towards a hallway I could use to get around the other side and the other looking around. I grabbed the bottle and threw it out the window. The glass breaking creating a loud sound.

"What was that?!"

"It was outside, bitch is escaping through the window. After her!"

They ran off thinking I had snuck by them and high tailed for the highway. I took this opportunity, silently headed for the hallway outside the room. I turn on my flashlight as I searched for an exit that hopefully would get me to the other side.

I noticed from the different rooms that this wasn't just an office building, it was a research lab. I entered one of the room both searching for anything I could use and navigating for an exit. I found some files and a lighter that I pocketed in with my knife.

The files were of people, subjects to some experiment. There was also a recorder next to the files I had found with a label, Dr. Vaughn. A deep male voice came from it when I pressed play.

"November 20, 2001… nearly a dozen dead, still no vaccine… we have a promising subject, looks like the cordyceps have mutated, x-rays show a non invasive growth in the brain… we have to find a way to replicate this in the lab…"

 _Well that explains why they set up the lab in a town as small as this one._ I wondered if this was the place where it all started.

I walked around the table looking at all the items left behind. Lost in the recent information I had found and what it meant, I didn't notice a box and tripped on it. Trying to catch myself, my hand slammed on something made of glass on the table.

"Agh! Shit." I look at my bleeding hand, a mixture of glass, blood, and some yellow liquid. I remove the pieces of glass and take a bottle of water from my pack to pour a little on my wounded hand, then my handkerchief to wrap it around. Once I secured the cloth on I went to look at what I had tripped on.

 _A box of…,_ I think to myself as I open the top, _more files,_ my eyes widened in realization from the thick layers of paper, _a lot more files. Nearly a hundred in here, how many people died in these experiments?_

Clang!

"She might still be in here. Keep your eyes peeled."

 _Shit._ I've over stayed here. Gotta get out quick, before those assholes find me. I turn off my flashlight to keep hidden. I could see two lights, one headed for the room I was in and the other in the room opposite this one.

 _Okay, calm down._ I used one hand to search around the top table as I crouch down, _a test tube and beaker._ I took both items and wait for the hunters to circle halfway around the large table then threw both items back down the hall.

"You hear that?"

"Yeah."

"Let's check it out."

Once I see them walk far enough sneak to the far corner door on the other side of the room and slip away. At the end of the hallway is a door. _Thank god._

I exit the building quietly and push a dumpster by the side of the building to block the door.

"Now where the fuck do I go?"

 _A/N: Take a guess what Piper actually smashed while in that lab ;)_


End file.
